We’ve got a BIG release news update for you all today. But before we get going on that, we wanted to let you know that Warner’s newly announced The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D are now available for pre-order on Amazon.com. Release date is 4/8. Click on the links to pre-order.

The big news today is from Criterion: As expected, their May release slate officially includes Billy Wilder’s Ace in the Hole (Spine #396) on 5/6, Stuart Cooper’s Overlord (#382) on 5/13, and Abbas Kiarostami’s Like Someone in Love (#708) on 5/20, and Wes Anderson’s The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (#300) and Howard Hawks’ classic Red River (#709) on 5/27. As you can see the anticipated street dates have shifted around a little, but otherwise the line-up is exactly what we expected. SRP for all is $39.95 each except for Red River which is $49.95. You can see the official cover art for all below. Here’s a rundown of the extras to expect... [Read on here...]

Ace in the Hole will feature audio commentary by film scholar Neil Sinyard, the 1980 Portrait of a “60% Perfect Man”: Billy Wilder documentary, a 1984 interview with actor Kirk Douglas, excerpts from a 1986 appearance by Wilder at the American Film Institute, excerpts from an audio interview with Wilder’s co-screenwriter Walter Newman, a video afterword by filmmaker Spike Lee, a stills gallery, the trailer, and a booklet with essays by critic Molly Haskell and filmmaker Guy Maddin.

Overlord will include audio commentary by director Cooper and actor Brian Stirner, the 2007 Mining the Archive featurette, the 2007 Capa Influences Cooper photo essay, the 1943 British Ministry of Information film tribute Cameramen at War, Cooper’s 1969 short film A Test of Violence, the 1941 Ministry of Information propaganda film Germany Calling, excerpts from the journals of two D-day soldiers read by Stirner, the trailer, and a booklet featuring an essay by critic Kent Jones, a short history of the Imperial War Museum, and excerpts from the Overlord novelization by Cooper and Christopher Hudson.

Like Someone in Love will feature a 45-minute documentary on the making of the film, a trailer, and a booklet featuring an essay by film scholar and critic Nico Baumbach.

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou will offer audio commentary by Anderson and co-writer Noah Baumbach, new interviews with actors Bill Murray, Willem Dafoe, and Jeff Goldblum, the making-of documentary This Is an Adventure, the Italian Mondo Monda talk show interview with Anderson and Baumbach hosted by Antonio Monda, an interview with composer and Devo member Mark Mothersbaugh, 10 performances of David Bowie songs in Portuguese by Brazilian recording artist and actor Seu Jorge, an Intern Video Journal by actor Matthew Gray Gubler, interviews with the cast and crew, a making-of featurette, 9 deleted scenes, a gallery of photos and original artwork, the trailer, and an insert featuring a cutaway view of The Belafonte, Eric Anderson’s original illustrations, and a conversation between Wes and Eric conducted in 2005.

Finally, Red River will feature a 4K digital restoration of the rarely presented original theatrical release version, the preferred cut of director Howard Hawks, with monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray, a 2K restoration of the longer version of Red River, new interviews with filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich , critic Molly Haskell, and western scholar Lee Clark Mitchell, audio excerpts of a 1972 conversation between Hawks and Bogdanovich, excerpts from a 1970 audio interview with novelist and screenwriter Borden Chase, and a booklet featuring an essay by critic Geoffrey O’Brien, and a 1991 interview with Hawks’ longtime editor Christian Nyby, plus a new paperback edition of Chase’s original novel, previously out of print.

Meanwhile, Paramount has announced Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street for Blu-ray Combo and DVD release on 3/25, with a digital release set for 3/18. The only extras on the Blu-ray is The Wolf Pack making-of featurette.

Universal Studios has officially set The Nut Job for Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray and DVD release on 4/15, with digital versions available on 4/8. Extras on all disc versions will include 2 animated shorts (Surely Squirrel and Nuts & Robbers). The Blu-ray versions will exclusively add deletes scenes, storyboards, an end credit number and The Great Nut Heist featurette.

Universal has also set the Ice Cube and Kevin Hart comedy Ride Along for Blu-ray and DVD release on 4/15. Extras will include an alternate ending, an alternate take, deleted scenes, a gag reel and 4 featurettes (An Explosive Ride, Kev & Cube’s Wild Ride, You Gonna Learn Today, and Anatomy of the Big Blast).

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has set Bad Country for Blu-ray, DVD and digital release on 4/29. Sony has also set Asghar Farhadi’s The Past for Blu-ray Combo and digital release on 3/25.

Magnolia Home Entertainment has set the documentary Cocaine Cowboys Reloaded for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 4/8 (SRP $29.98 and $26.98). Extras will include The Making of Cocaine Cowboys Reloaded, director and producer commentary, extended interviews, a gallery and the film’s trailer.

And finally, Entertainment One has set Wicked Blood for Blu-ray and DVD release on 3/4 (SRP $24.98 and $19.98). The film stars Abigail Breslin, James Purefoy and Sean Bean.

Here’s a look at the cover artwork for all those May Criterion titles, as well as Universal’s The Nut Job (all are now available for pre-order on Amazon.com by clicking on the covers below)...

Also today, our own Russell Hammond has posted the weekly Release Dates & Artwork update featuring all the latest Blu-ray and DVD cover art and Amazon.com pre-order links. As always, a portion of anything you order from Amazon after clicking through our links (on the right) goes to help support our work here at The Bits and we really do appreciate it. [Read on here…]

In announcement news, Warner Home Video has set Grudge Match for Blu-ray Combo and DVD release on 4/8.

HBO (via Warner) has set Eastbound & Down: Season Four for release on both formats on 5/13.

Finally, the folks at Criterion Cast have posted early details of Criterion’s anticipated May Dual Disc release slate, and it includes some real gems. Billy Wilder’s Ace in the Hole kicks things off on 5/6, followed by Stuart Cooper’s Overlord and Abbas Kiarostami’s Like Someone in Love on 5/13, the long-awaited Blu-ray release of Wes Anderson’s The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (my particular favorite of Anderson’s films) on 5/20 and Howard Hawks’ classic Red River on 5/27. Watch for an official announcement from Criterion soon.

First up, Twilight Time has announced the limited Blu-ray release of Zulu (1964), Khartoum (1966), Titus (1999) and Man in the Dark 3D (1953) – 3,000 copies each will be available. They’ve also revealed that less than 600 copies each remain of Enemy Mine (1985) and Stagecoach (1966). SRP for these BDs is $29.95 each. Head to Screen Archives Entertainment to get your copies. [Read on here…]

Disney’s Frozen is available for pre-order on Amazon in a 2-disc BD/DVD Combo, but the Blu-ray 3D version seems to have been taken down and pre-orders for it have been cancelled. Industry sources tell us there may not be a Blu-ray 3D release right away, at least not widely. The reason is that it appears Walmart is going to have the BD3D as a timed retail exclusive – see this link. We’ll have to wait until early January when the official announcement gets made to learn more. You can see the 2D cover art below.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has set Wadjda for Blu-ray Combo release on 2/11.

IFC Films has Plus One and Blue Caprice due on DVD release on 1/14.

Warner has announced a stripped-down Harry Potter Hogwarts Collection Blu-ray/DVD box set due for release on 2/25 (SRP $249.99). It’s a 31-disc set that includes all the movies on BD and DVD, with UltraViolet, and 37 hours worth of extras including the bonus disc – basically, the previous ultimate box set minus the swag. Here’s what it looks like (click to pre-order on Amazon)...

Warner has also set a series of catalog titles for Blu-ray release on 4/22, including Conspiracy Theory, Exit Wounds, Get Carter (1971), Get Carter (2000), the Steven Seagal film Exit Wounds and Torque. SRP is $14.07 each.

Meanwhile, New Video Group has set 22 Bullets for Blu-ray/DVD Combo release on 2/11.

Virgil Films has set the fly fishing documentary Kiss the Water for DVD and digital release on 1/7.

Starz has set The White Queen: Season One for Blu-ray and DVD release on 2/4.

20th Century Fox will release Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958) on Blu-ray on 2/4.

By the way, in their latest newsletter, Criterion hinted that they’re working on a new Blu-ray/DVD release of Billy Wilder’s Ace in the Hole. Watch for an official announcement in the weeks ahead.

And finally, users of older Oppo players (like the BDP-83) are having problems with HBO’s Beyond the Candelabra Blu-ray, apparently due to a new update of Java that HBO is using on their discs. Unfortunately, the change is such that Oppo says they can’t firmware update the players to accommodate the title. New Oppo players are unaffected.

We’ll back on Monday with a bunch more Blu-ray reviews, both new and retro. Meanwhile, we’ll leave you with a look at the Blu-ray cover artwork for Frozen (2D – TBA), both BD versions of Thor: The Dark World (BD3D and BD – also TBA), Fox’s Inn of the Sixth Happiness, Sony’s Wadjda and Starz’ The White Queen: Season One. Click to pre-order them on Amazon...